Notation  Review

These definitions and illustrations are from the MiBAC Music Theory Page - Music Software - http://www.mibac.com/Pages/Theory/Main_Theory.htm. 

Terms and Concepts

• Rhythm, Beat, and Meter
  • Time Signatures
  • Note Symbols and the Note Value Tree
  • Dotted Notes
  • Rest Symbols
  • Music and Math (see rhythm and math course document in rhythm folder)
  • Measures
  • Bar Lines
• Melody
  • Staff
  • Pitch
  • Musical Alphabet
  • Treble and Bass Clefs
  • Naming Notes in Treble Clef
  • Accidentals (sharps, flats, naturals)
  • Scales
  • Melodic Intervals
• Harmony
  • Harmonic Intervals
  • Harmony and Chord Progressions
  • Major and Minor
• Timbre, Dynamics, and Tempo Markings

Rhythm

• regular vs. irregular
• strong vs. weak
• long vs. short 
• equal vs. unequal

Beat - The underlying, evenly spaced pulse providing a framework for rhythm.

Meter - The pattern in which a steady succession of rhythmic pulses is organized.

Create a steady beat by tapping your foot or clapping your hands.  A metronome is a visual and auditory way to discuss the steady beat.  The higher the number you set on a metronome, the more beats per minute and the faster the arm moves.  I often march to a regular beat, then start to slow, speed up, slow again to demonstrate irregular beat.  Use words and phrases as examples.  For example - murmur has two equal syllables, but kachoo is irregular because of the accent on the second syllable.  The rhythm of word syllables and accents can help students hear rhythm patterns.  

Time Signatures

Time signatures are used to indicate how the musical rhythm and meter is organized. The rhythm and meter of a piece of music are independent of the tempo. Whether the piece is played fast or slow, the rhythm and meter stay the same. The upper number in the time signature indicates the number of beats in a measure. The lower number indicates which note value receives one beat.

Note Symbols

This table shows the music symbols and names of the most commonly used notes.

Note Value Tree

Each of these notes is half as long as the note above it.

Dotted Notes

A dot following a note or rest increases its duration by half the original value.

Rest Symbols

This table shows the music symbols and names of the most commonly used rests. Rests are used to indicate silence.

Practice Questions

Music and Math

Go to the Rhythm and Math Page in Rhythm folder of Course Documents.

Melody

• Direction - up, down, stay the same
• Range - wide or narrow spectrum of notes ranging from low to high
• Position - Maybe use notes of high pitches or transposed to low pitches, but as long as the intervals between notes is consistent, the melody can be placed with the total pitch continuum.
• Intervals - The distance between the pitches of the melody may be steps from one note to an adjacent note, or skips where pitches leap from one to another skipping a tone or tones.

What Is Pitch?

Taken from http://www.mibac.com/Pages/Theory/Main_Theory.htm

Pitch is the musician's term for the frequency of a note. Pitch refers to how high or low a note sounds. High pitches are on the right side of the piano keyboard and low pitches are on the left side of the piano keyboard. Pitch ranges are often referred to in terms of the human singing voice.

• Soprano - a high woman's voice
• Alto - a low woman's voice
• Tenor - a high man's voice
• Bass - a low man's voice

The accepted pitch standard is A-440, i.e., the note A above middle C has a frequency of 440 cycles per second. 

Musical Alphabet

The keyboard below shows the musical alphabet

Staff

5 lines and 4 spaces

Notes sit on the line or in the space, indicating the pitch of the tone.

Treble Clef Names

The treble clef is also called the G clef because the clef symbol curls around the line that represents the G above middle C.

The names of the treble clef lines can be remembered by the saying "Every Good Boy Does Fine." The spaces spell "F A C E."

Clefs

A clef symbol is placed at the beginning of each staff to fix the location of a specific pitch.

Practice Naming the Notes Below:

Accidentals

Accidentals are symbols that alter the pitch of a note. Accidentals are placed immediately to the left of the note they affect.

Whole and Half Steps

The half step is the smallest unit of pitch used in Western music. On the piano, a half step is the musical interval from any one key to its closest neighbor, either black or white. Half steps occur naturally between the two white key pairs E-F and B-C. Two consecutive half steps are called a whole step.

Scales

• A scale consists of a series of pitches arranged in ascending order, spanning an octave.
• The most commonly used scales are major and minor.
• Many other types of scales are used including Modes and Jazz Scales.
• C Major Scale uses only white keys on the piano (with no accidentals - flats or sharps).
• The E Major Scale below uses four sharps.

Relative Major/Minor Scales

Relative major and minor scales share the same key signature, but begin on different notes. G major and E minor are relative major and minor scales.

Examples of Melodies

Melodies are like conversations.  Musical thoughts are divided into phrases.  Often, melodies include two parts - a question and an answer.  The melodies below form questions and answers in the key of C major.  Notice that all four phrases start on C.  The answer is more definitive when the final note in the home key note - in this case a C.

Intervals, Harmony, and Form

• Intervals - The number of semitones between one note and another.  Intervals can be melodic (as a part of the tune) or harmonic (as a part of the chordal accompaniment).  See the intervals Powerpoint presentation.  In the example below, the melodic intervals move from 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th or octave.  The harmonic intervals are the same, but the sounds are played simultaneously.
• Harmony - The vertical blocks of different tones that sound simultaneously; a progression of chords.
  • Vertical structure - homophonic with chords connected to and supportive of the melody
  • Horizontal structure - polyphonic with chords created by simultaneously sound melodies.
• Form - The design of music, incorporating repetition, contrast, unity, and variety.  The organization of music, its shape or structure.

Intervals

An interval is the distance in pitch between two notes.  These can be melodic intervals that or the pitches can sound simultaneously, creating harmonic intervals.  The intervals below are harmonic intervals because the notes sound at the same time. 

C Major Chord Progression in Bass Clef

A chord includes at least three notes that sound simultaneously in consonant harmony.  A triad is a root position chord that includes three tones each 3 steps apart.  The chord progression provides the background harmony for songs.  Generally, a song in a major key will include the major chords within that scale.  The major chords are triads built on the first, fourth, and fifth notes of the scale.  In the key of C, the primary chords would be C, F, and G.  In this progression a tone 7 notes above the G has been added for flavor.  This is called the G7 chord.  Notice the guitar tablature notation for the chords played in the bass clef on the piano.

The Expressive Elements of Music

• Timbre - The distinctive quality of tone of a sound.
• Dynamics - The volume of sound; the loudness or softness of a musical passage.
• Tempo - The pace at which music moves, based on the speed of the underlying beat.

See the course documents under Timbre, Dynamics, and Tempo.

Copyright 2003 by Carla Piper, Ed. D.